Make no mistake, Peyton Watson had a great 2025-26 season by all accounts. The numbers show that he had a career season across the board. He saw the most minutes of his career, and Watson even started 40 games for the injury-depleted Nuggets. But he hasn't received any offer from any team, and he was likely asking for too much money in the first place, which is why the Nuggets should hold firm and offer him less.
Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported in The Stein Line (subscription required) that Watson was looking for a deal in the same range as Christian Braun's $25 million average annual value. That contract is and will be a future problem for the Nuggets. They saw what happened with the regression from Braun this season, and they don't want to get stuck with another large contract that might not work out for many years down the road.
The Nuggets didn't scare anyone off with their stance
That's totally understandable and is likely one of the reasons there have been no offers from any team for P-Wat. It's not like the Nuggets were the Big Bad Wolf when it came to matching offers for Watson. Even though they said multiple times that bringing back Watson was a top priority and they would match anything, you just know there was a number that would have scared them off. They're wildly over the luxury tax and facing exorbitant amounts of fines because of it.
And if Watson was so sought after, there would have been multiple teams coming after him when the free agency doors opened. There weren't, there aren't, and only the Clippers are rumored to have any interest in Watson. But their interest was so feigned that they signed Rui Hachimura, forcing them to consider a sign-and-trade in order to fit Watson under their available cap space.
The Nuggets need to hold firm for their future
The Nuggets need to stay the course and keep the number they sign Watson to as team-friendly as possible. The way the current collective bargaining agreement is working, the salary cap isn't going up as much each year as it was projected to be going up, resulting in teams becoming top-heavy in contracts tied up to a couple of players. Exactly where the Nuggets are now, and why the Celtics had to trade Jaylen Brown to stay competitive and flexible.
It's an unfortunate reality for Watson, but it's in the best interest of the Nuggets. Teams are obviously a bit spooked by the issue, and there were many team-friendly contracts handed out across the league at the start of free agency. At the end of the day, the NBA is a business, and the Nuggets need to hold firm so they have more flexibility in the future.
The worst-case scenario for Watson? Accept the Nuggets' $6 million qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next year.
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